Needle holding instrument for applying continuous sutures



I. H. RYGG Oct. 31, 1967 NEEDLE HOLDING INSTRUMENT FOR APPLYING CONTINUOUS SUTURES I Filed July 22. 1964 INVENTOR .I/V6E H AYGG' United States Patent 3,349,772 NEEDLE HOLDING INSTRUMENT FOR APPLYING CONTINUOUS SUTURES Inge H. Rygg, Charlottenlund, Denmark, assignor to Aktiebolaget C V Heljestrand', Eskilstuna, Sweden Filed July 22, 1964, Ser. No. 384,482

Claims priority, application Sweden, July 24, 1963,

1 Claim. (Cl. 128-340) This invention relates to an instrument for applying a continuous suture, utilizing a suture thread having an atraumatic needle alfixed thereto.

The object of the invention has been to provide a simple and cheap instrument of the just mentioned kind, which instrument is easy to handle and enable a very precise and reliable application of a continuous suture with a suture thread having an atraumatic needle affixed thereto, at the same time as it should still be ensured that an incresed speed is reached by the movement of the of the needle through the tissue, as compared to the application of sutures with a continuous suture thread in the conventional manner.

To the just mentioned end the instrument according to the invention is essentially characterized in that it comprises two movable legs, which are movable towards and away from each other, one of said legs carrying a movable needle holder which faces the other leg and preferably is slightly shorter than the atraumatic needle affixed to the suture thread to be used in the instrument and which needle holder is wholly open in direction to the free end of said leg, whereas the other leg carries a pad of elastic material, disposed opposite the needle holder and adapted to receive the tip of the needle so as to momentarily grip the needle under friction while the needle and the suture thread are being moved entirely through the tissues or the like where the suture is to be applied.

According to the invention it is particularly advantageous to make the needle holder tubular and axially displaceable in a bore in the leg end which carries the needle holder, in which case the end of the needle holder facing away from said pad rests on a resilient tongue on the outermost side of the leg carrying said needle holder. It is essential that the bore in the leg carrying the needle holder is provided with a guiding stop, the task of which is partly to prevent the needle holder from turning and partly to act as a stop for the movement of the needle in axial direction towards the resilient tongue. Furthermore, it is preferred to provide the outermost end of the leg with a slot for guiding the suture thread.

Also, it is advantageous to mount said elastic pad removably in a bore which is open in direction of the outermost end of said other leg, and it is also advantageous to make the tubular needle holder slightly outwardly tapering at the outermost end facing said pad, so as to facilitate the introduction of the needle into said needle holder.

This invention will be disclosed in more details hereinafter with reference had to the accompanying drawing.

FIGURE 1 illustrates as an example one embodiment of the instrument according to the invention, designed as a pliers;

FIGURE 2 shows to an enlarged scale the outermost end of one of the legs of the pliers;

FIGURE 3 illustrates a second embodiment of the instrument according to the invention, designed in a tweezer-like form;

FIGURES 4-8 illustrate successive steps during the utilization of the instrument according to the invention while applying a continuous suture with an atraumatic needle aflixed thereto;

FIGURE 9 shows the introduction of the needle into the needle holder of one leg of the pliers;

FIGURE 10 illustrates the outermost end of one of the legs of the pliers to an enlarged scale.

The pliers shown in FIGURES 1, 2 and 4-9, illustrated as an example, which pliers will be referred to as a needle pliers 10, has two crosswise arranged legs 11, 12, which are pivotally connected together. One leg 11 has on the outermost end thereof a needle holder 13- which is facing the other leg 12. The lastmentioned leg 12 has in the outermost end thereof an axially inwardly extending bore 14 and also a slot 15 which runs in the same main direction as that of the bore. The slot 15 is situatedin a plane containing the needle holder 13.

The needle holder 13 is tubular and is open in the outermost end facing the other leg 12. Further, the wall of the tubular needle holder 13 has an axial slot 16 facing the outermost end of said leg 11. The said leg carries a guiding stop 25 for guiding the needle holder and for locating the needle in the axial direction.

As is shown most clearly in FIGURE 6 the needle holder 13 rests against the outer end of a tongue 17, which is made of a suitable resilient material and which has the inner end thereof secured to the outer surface of the leg 11. Thus, it should be noted that the needle holder 13 is not directly secured to either the tongue 17 or the leg 11, whereas it is still guided in said leg in its own axial direction, and more particularly in a bore 18 through said leg end. The above mentioned stop 25 extends into said bore 18 and the uppermost surface of this stop is aligned with the inner surface of the leg 11 to locate the needle axially in the needle holder, at the same time as the stop member prevents the needle holder from turning. The leg 11 has in the end thereof a slot 19 to, guide the suture thread and prevent too, a strong bending of the same. This slot is situated in the same plane as the above mentioned slot 15 in the outermost end of the other leg 12.

Now, there only remains to be mentioned that the bore 14 in the outermost end of the other leg 12 of the pliers houses a pad 20 of elastic material, such as rubber or plastic material, and that the outermost open end of the needle holder 13 preferably is slightly conically tapering on the inner surface thereof so as to facilitate the introduction of the needle 21 therein, as will be set forth in more details below.

With reference to FIGURES 410 the above-described instrument is utilized in the following way by applying a continuous suture with a suture thread having an atraumatic needle aifixed thereto.

The atraumatic needle 21 which is aflixed to the end of the suture thread 22 is introduced into the needle holder 13 with the rear end thereof, and the thread is moved down the slot 16 in the needle holder 13 as well as down the slot 19 in the outermost end of the leg 11. The rear end of the needle hereby will rest on the stop member 25, whereas the tip of the needle normally will protrude slightly from the needle holder 13, as is shown in FIG. 5.

Then, the legs of the needle pliers are brought together over the tissues 23, 24, or the like where the suture is to be applied so that the tip of the needle penetrates the tissues and also moves further into or through the elastic pad 20, as is shown in FIG. 6. When said legs 11, 12 are brought together the needle holder 13 is pressed through the bore 18 in the end portion of said leg 11, against the action of said resilient tongue 17, and the pliers, legs 11, 12 bring the tissues 23, 24 together.

Then, as the legs 11, 12 are moved slightly apart from each other, the needle 21 will be held frictionally gripped in the pad 20 so that the needle is moved entirely through the tissues 23, 24, and the suture thread 22 leaves the 3 needle holder 13 and the end of the leg 11 through the forwardly open slot 16, FIG. 7.

Thereafter, the legs 11, 12 of the pliers are brought slightly together again, whereafter the suture thread is tensioned. Thereby, due to the tensioning, the needle 21 will be withdrawn from the elastic pad 20 so that it is again introduced into the needle holder 13. Thus far, the instrument as a whole has reassumed the starting portion as shown in FIG. 5 after completion of the first stitch, and the instrument is ready for the following stitch.

The instrument as shown in FIG. 3 is similar to the above described needle pliers 10 as far as the constructional design of the ends of the legs is concerned, and the instrument in FIG. 3 differs from the needle pliers only in that this embodiment is a tweezer-like instrument.

The advantages of the instrument according to invention appear to be so evident to those skilled in the art that it should be unnecessary to point out the same in all particulars, and naturally alterations as to details may be carried out within the limits of the inventive idea.

What I claim is:

An instrument for applying a continuous suture having an atraumatic needle affixed thereto comprising in combination, two jaws which are movable toward and away from each other, a tubular needle holder provided on the first of said jaws adjacent to one of its ends and arranged to hold said needle with the tip thereof directed toward one end of the second one of the jaws, a resilient tongue provided on the outer side of the first jaw and acting on that end of said tubular needle holder that is remote from the second jaw, the needle holder being axially displaceable against the bias of said resilient tongue and being provided with a longitudinal slot, a fixed abutment on the said first jaw projecting through said slot into the bore of said tubular needle holder to locate said needle axially, and a resilient pad provided on said second jaw in alignment with the needle holder and arranged to receive and frictionally grip the tip of the needle when said tip has pierced the material to be sutured, so that said needle will be reinserted into the needle holder when the jaws are moved toward one another.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 229,581 7/1880 Boning 128-329 262,833 8/1882 Rosenberg 128-329 1,037,864 9/1912 Carlson et al. 128-340 1,449,087 3/1923 Bugbee 128-340 1,464,832 8/1923 Richardson 128-340 2,880,728 4/1959 Rights 128-326 25 RICHARD A. GAUDET, Primary Examiner.

DALTON L. TRULUCK, Examiner. 

